Grove Industries and the Importance of Choosing the Right Supplier

Jim Buik - Friday, February 20, 2015

The debate of whether to choose a national or a local supplier for your business's uniform services, mat rentals, restroom supplies and other laundry services will have the topics of price, personnel and resources surface. The best way to compare, perhaps, is by asking someone who has experienced renting from both local, independently owned and national chains.

The Chicago uniform company recently started servicing Grove Industries, a screw machine and brass hose fittings manufacturer in Bensenville, IL. Grove Industries went through a slew of national uniform providers for several years before recently switching. Towards the end of their experience, the company encountered several issues with their supplier. Among them was shortages which means the same amount of uniforms turned in for laundering were not delivered clean the following week.

Shortages could also mean that garments were lost and employees were left without the proper amount of changes needed. Often times work uniforms were delivered stained or smelling or the apparel was from a completely different company. Necessary repairs for uniforms went unnoticed as well. Furthermore, when Grove Industries tried to contact their supplier to mend the above situations, they received no response from the service and management personnel.

This is a major problem as Grove Industries works with grease and oils and work uniforms get soiled very quickly. It makes it very uncomfortable for any employee to be in stained, smelly and ripped uniforms. All of the service issues Grove Industries was experiencing are common industry issues that should be taken care of right away as part of a laundry service.

When these things are a constant trouble it becomes strenuous for a manager to take on the additional responsibility of sorting through the mess. Furthermore, it affects employee morale when uniforms are not up to par and they feel uncomfortable. It affects teamwork and unity among employees and reduces the overall appearance of a business. This affects productivity and the bottom-line as well.

The switch from a national to a local, independently owned rental company for Grove Industries has seen an improvement from the issues they were experiencing and Roscoe is proud to be a part of that. In a study done by Market Measurement comparing national chains to local independent textile rentals, local rental companies outperformed nationals in seven key service areas:

Timely response – 63% to 26%

Uniform appearance – 61% to 35%

Complete delivery – 53% to 16%

Overall satisfaction – 53% to 25%

Repairs – 52% to 15%

Replacement policies – 49% to 24%

Billing policies – 49% to 19%

Furthermore, companies that switched from a national chain to a local, independently owned, textile rental company stated that their service needs were met or exceeded virtually 100% of the time. At the Chicago mat company we are striving to alleviate the pressure and worry that Grove Industries was facing with their uniform program and that everything runs smoothly so it is not cumbersome to day-to-day operations. The right supplier of uniform services can have a positive impact and we are honored that Grove Industries has given Roscoe the chance to prove that.

Contact a uniform services representative if you are interested in learning more about the service and products we offer. Thank you for choosing to Take Pride in your image with Roscoe!